Billiard and pool table



(No Model.) 1

8. DE GAETANO. BILLIARD AND POOL TABLE. No. 562,818. Patented June 30,1896.

UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

STEPHEN DE GAETANO, OF BROOKLYN, NEIV YORK.

BILLIARD AND POOL TABLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 562,818, dated .1 une30, 1896.

A plication fli d June 1, 1894. Serial No. 513,184. (No model.)

To CL whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, STEPHEN DE GAETANO, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Billiard andPool Tables, of which the following is a specification.

My invention comprises the combination, with the billiard-frame and theelastic cushion, of. a readily attachable and detachable ball-trap ofspecific construction, serving as a substitute for the ordinary pocket(which thus maybe dispensed with) and adapting the billiard-table alsoto the game of pool, which will be hereinafter described andspecifically claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,wherein Figurel represents a top view of a portion of a table providedwith my present improvements, the rubber being partly broken away. Fig.2 is a cross-section of the same on the broken line a; a; w of Fig. 1.Fig. 3 is a side view of the ball-trap detached from itshinging platesor buttons and a central section of the latter, also taken on line .90of Fig. 1. Fig. i is a crosssection, on y y of Fig. 1, of the saidhinging-plate, drawn to a larger scale than in the previous figures.Figs. 5, 6, and '7 are cross-sections of the trap, taken on the lines ZZ, 2; 'v, and w w of Fig. 3, respectively. Figs. 8 and 9 are top viewsshowing a modification of the hinging-plate of a corner trap and sidetrap, respectively; and Fig. 10 is a section on line T T of Fig. 9.

I am aware that a substitute for a pocket has been made consisting of aframe permanently pivoted to a bracket secured upon the billiard-frameand carrying a circularly-bent wire, upon which latter are hinged aseries of pendent flaps arranged to swing out of the way of an enteringball and then resume their normal position and act as stops to preventthe exit of the ball when rebounding, and those devices are not of mypresent claim to invention.

Referring to the drawings, A designates the wooden rail of thecushion-frame; B, the usual triangular rubber strip, which is thecushion proper; O, strip securing the edge of the cloth covering; D,part of the slate table; E, side rail of table-frame, and F top rail oftableframe.

the U-frame are curved inward slightly at f 6 5 toward each other toprevent the balls from glancing off (but causing it to raise and enterthe trap) when striking the U -frame closely to the cushion, and have attheir ends a tongue 9 beveled upon its under side at h (for easyinsertion in and removal from the jaw, where it is temporarily pivotedto fold back upon the cushion; for instance, to throw back the side trapwhen playing a ball along the cushion to the corner-trap) and bevels onthe upper surface on both sides at the root of said tongue, so as tofold down sufliciently low, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, to notinterfere with the convenien ee of aiming and shooting. A pin 7;,secured through the tongue 9 near the lower end of bevel i2, is thepivot on which it is hinged in corresponding notches or grooves [in theunder surface of the lateral extensions m, which form the jaw in whichthe tongue g enters for pivoting it to the plate or button II, of whichsaid extensions are integral parts.

The plate or button H is fastened by a screw to the top rail F, as seenin Figs. 1 and 2 is beveled on its upper surface back of the jaw at n toallow of the low folding aforesaid, as in Fig. 3, and has underneath aflat spring I, free to deflect into a suitable slot 8 in the top rail F,but which spring normally closes upon the under side of the button H.The ends of the extensions m are beveled beneath at r.

In order to attach the traps for playing pool, it is only necessary toinsert the tongues g between the bevels r and springs I until the pinslodge in the notches Z, the said springs normally tending always to keepthe frame G down when on either side of the vertical, and to detach thetraps for playing carambol {now generally called billiards it is onlyneces- ICO sary to depress the spring I by the tongues g and pull thelatter, with their pins 70, out from the notches Z and from between thejawsm m and springs I, as indicated by arrow 2, and put the traps asideuntil the next time needed for pool-playing.

The operation of the ball-trap, when playin g pool, is readilyunderstood with reference to Fig. 2.

When the trap is in its normal position, (shown in full lines,) itsinner edge 0, which is hat, is vertical and its central elevationcoincides with or is slightly below that of the horizontal diameter ofthe ball. Assume the ball to enter in the direction of arrow 1 andstrike the trap when in the position of. the circle drawn in full linesand marked 1, in which position the point of intersection between theface-line u of the trap and the diametert of the ball,at right angles tosaid faceline, is considerably above the horizontal diameter of theball. The ball will then rise and enter the trap. When in the positionof the dotted circle, (marked 2, )it will have raised the trap in itsdotted position. When in position of circle 3 it strikes the cushion,the trap has dropped again into its normal position, and when havingrebounded to the position of circle at it strikes the vertical inneredge 0 of the trap and is thus stopped and retained in it.

The strength of the spring I and its proximity to the tongue g of thetrap Gare so adjusted that the spring offers little or no resistance tothe rise of the trap until the latter is high enough for the ball toenter, but at that instant it acts with sudden and powerful resistancefor the purpose of causing the trap to drop again with sufficientrapidity to entrap the ball and prevent its exit on rebounding from thecushion.

Instead of securing the hinging-plates H by a screw through the uppersurface of the top rail F, they may be provided with extensions h,(shown in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2 and in full lines in Figs. 8, 9,and 10,) bent so as to adapt them to embrace the projecting edge of thetop rail F and be clamped to the latter by tightening a set-screw 71from underneath. In this modification the plates H H of each pair areconneoted'by a solid bar h to always keep them in their proper By simplyunturnrelative position apart.

ing the set-screws 77. a little the clamping plates H can be readilyremoved without even unhinging from them the ball-traps, thus leavingthe surface of the top rail entirely smooth when playing billiards.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. In a billiard or pooltable, a circular U- shaped ball-trap G pivoted to the top rail of saidtable and beveled on its edge of impact with the balls at anglesgradually decreasing from d to d and d and presenting its inner edge 0as a stop against exit of the balls at about the horizontal diameter ofthe latter, substantially as set forth.

2. Ina billiard or pool table, a circular U- shaped ball-trap G pivotedto the top rail of said table and beveled on its edge of impact with theballs at angles gradually decreasing from d to d and d and presentingits inner edge 0 as a stop against exit of the balls at about thehorizontal diameter of the latter, the legs 6 of the trap being curvedinward or toward each other slightly at f, for the purpose set forth.

3. In a billiard or pool table, the combination of: a circular U-shapedball-trap G having under-beveled tongues g and pivotingpins it throughthe same, with plates or buttons H securable to the top rail and havingunder-beveled jaws m with notches Z in the under side thereof, springs Isubjacent to said buttons, and recesses s in the top rail to allow fordeflection of said springs, for admitting ot the pivotal attaching anddetaching of said ball-traps, substantially as specified.

4. In a billiard or pool table the combination of a circular U-shapedball-trap G beveled on its edge of impact with the balls at anglesgradually decreasing from d to cl and d and presenting its inner edge 0as a stop against exit of the balls, with a hinging-plate H havingextension h adapted to embrace the edge of the top rail and providedwith set-screws 7L2, as specified.

Signed at Bloomfield, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey,this 11th day of May, A. D. 1894.

STEPHEN DE GAETANO.

lVitnesses:

A. WV. ALINQVIST, T. E. HAYES.

